A product of the 1950s, Nixie Tube Clocks continue to impress electronic aficionados through retro and vintage incarnations which celebrate their fail-safe, amber glow technology.

Nixies derive their name from NIX 1, an abbreviation for Numeric Indicator Experiment No. 1, which was the laboratory designation for the cold cathode tube product finessed by the Burroughs Corporation in the mid-1950s.

Although languishing from competition in the 1970s, Nixies are still available.• Volume manufacture of Nixies especially continued in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s.• Escaping destruction, surplus tubes have been stored in warehouses for decades, especially in Russia and eastern European countries.

With a resurgence in popularity lingering into the twenty-first century, Nixies are available, especially as clocks but also as watches, with vintage tubes from surplus warehouses and with retro styling.• Steve Wozniak (born August 11, 1950), co-founder of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), happily sports his glowing timepiece on his left wrist.

Back story of a 20th century invention

Introduced ca. 1955 - 1956 by Burroughs Corporation, a business machine manufacturing giant founded in 1886 in St. Louis, Missouri, the Nixie tube derives its name from NIX 1, an abbreviation of Numeric Indicator Experiment No. 1, Burroughs' laboratory designation for the cold-cathode display tube.

Nixie tubes have enjoyed such popularity that the trade name, trademarked by the Burroughs Corporation, has become the generic name, thereby superseding the proper generic name of cold cathode neon readout tube.

By the 1970s Nixies were suffering competition from:• light-emitting diodes (LEDs), first introduced by Texas Instruments in October 1962 and• vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), first introduced in 1959 by Dutch-based electronics giant, Philips.

Manufacture in volume continued in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s.

Fortunately, surplus tubes were not destroyed but instead were stored as surplus in warehouses, especially in Russia and eastern European countries.

Vintage Nixie Clock - Art Deco Design with Never Been Used Before 30 Year Old Tubes - Handcrafted ~ Available via Amazon

Only 250 made - numbered certificate of authenticity included ~ Art Deco Design in a handcrafted wooden enclosure ~ 4 Nixie tubes from new old stock that are at least 30 years old

Conclusion: Timelessly appealing amber glow of Nixie Tube Clocks

Nixie Tube Clocks exert timeless appeal, as testified by their resurgence in popularity, serving as a nostalgic bridge between the first decade of the technology-themed twenty-first century and the last five decades of the technology-oriented twentieth century.

Thanks to surplus tubes, housed in warehouses long after cessation of production in volume, Nixies are available in contemporary and retro styles. The tubes' vintage status emphasizes not only their past significance but also their future coherence.

Fortunate, indeed, are the fans who own authentic Nixie Tube Clocks, warmly appreciated and carefully preserved since the two decade-plus heyday of mid-1950s to early 1980s.